What We’ve Learned in 25 Years of Supporting Local Food Communities
Redwood City, CA (September 16, 2024) – Bay Area-based food service innovator Bon Appétit Management Company has synthesized our insights and best practices for sourcing local food into a white paper, Sowing Success: Local Food Purchasing Insights from 25 Years of the Farm to Fork Program. The paper outlines key findings from our groundbreaking program, Farm to Fork, which celebrates its 25th anniversary this fall.
The bedrock of Bon Appétit ’s highly regarded suite of sustainability initiatives, Farm to Fork requires operators to spend at least 20% of their budgets on ingredients from small, owner-operated farms and ranches located within 150 miles of their kitchens.
“Farm to Fork is a foundational program for our company and created a ripple effect in the industry when we launched it in1999,” says Fedele Bauccio, cofounder and CEO of Bon Appétit. “Now every food service company is working to source locally, which I think is vital for the resilience of our food system overall. This white paper reflects 25 years of important lessons about the collaboration and commitment required to make local sourcing truly successful and sustainable. I have always felt that our industry had a role in making the food system better, and I think Farm to Fork is more evidence that it does.”
In research done by the Bon Appétit Fellows, both quantitative and qualitative research methods were used to identify what factors determine a successful local sourcing program. The findings are released today in the Sowing Success white paper.
Key findings include:
ENGAGEMENT: Regular communication between buyers and producers builds strong relationships and mutual trust. Supporting chefs with programmatic training increases retention and creates stronger performance in the program.
PURCHASING PATTERNS: Prioritizing sourcing year-round ingredients makes it easier to increase local purchasing numbers.
REGIONAL VARIATIONS: When purchasing locally, a unique strategy for each location is more effective than a one-size-fits-all approach.
“The program started small, and over the years we’ve been able to build a thriving culture around local purchasing and build longstanding relationships between our chefs and the producers they buy from,” says Shira Kaufman, Farm to Fork sourcing specialist and a researcher on the paper. “In the past decade we’ve spent hundreds of millions of dollars with small, responsible producers and have been able to have big impact on those farms and communities,” says Theresa Chester, Bon Appétit’s vice president of purchasing.
This study had two data collation phases, one from fiscal year 2017 (Phase 1) and the other from FY 2023 (Phase 2). Fellows collected data from account executive chefs and general managers with a written survey and phone interview. After the interviews, the research team acquired Farm to Fork (F2F) purchasing distribution and scores for each account. The results were analyzed with qualitative and quantitative data to identify trends for successful F2F programs.
“After interviewing countless chefs across the company, our research team was blown away by the genuine care and deep relationships our teams have cultivated with local partners, and we are thrilled for our findings to help advance local purchasing efforts in our industry and beyond.” Elise Kulers, food education program coordinator and co-author of the paper.
The need to build and strengthen resilient local food systems is more urgent than ever. Institutional buyers have an important role to play in anchoring local farmers and food producers with consistent, high-volume purchases. This white paper points to clear steps institutions and organizations can take to ensure a successful and supportive local sourcing program.